Title:
New microcomb could help discover exoplanets and detect diseases
By:
Chalmers University of Technology
Published:
Phys.org, 4 March 2021
From the article:
Tiny photonic devices could be used to find new exoplanets, monitor health, and make the internet more energy efficient. Researchers from Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, now present a game-changing microcomb that could bring advanced applications closer to reality.
Also see:
Title:
Dissipative solitons in photonic molecules
Authors:
Óskar B. Helgason, Francisco R. Arteaga-Sierra, Zhichao Ye, Krishna Twayana, Peter A. Andrekson, Magnus Karlsson, Jochen Schröder & Victor Torres-Company
Published:
Nature Photonics, 25 January 2021
Abstract:
Many physical systems display quantized energy states. In optics, interacting resonant cavities show a transmission spectrum with split eigenfrequencies, similar to the split energy levels that result from interacting states in bonded multi-atomic—that is, molecular—systems. Here, we study the nonlinear dynamics of photonic diatomic molecules in linearly coupled microresonators and demonstrate that the system supports the formation of self-enforcing solitary waves when a laser is tuned across a split energy level. The output corresponds to a frequency comb (microcomb) whose characteristics in terms of power spectral distribution are unattainable in single-mode (atomic) systems. Photonic molecule microcombs are coherent, reproducible and reach high conversion efficiency and spectral flatness while operated with a laser power of a few milliwatts. These properties can favour the heterogeneous integration of microcombs with semiconductor laser technology and facilitate applications in optical communications, spectroscopy and astronomy.